(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- (Marketwire) -- 02/12/13 --
Network Instruments, a worldwide leader in network and application performance monitoring, today announced the latest version of its Observer performance management platform. The platform's new VoIP and video extraction functionality reduces the time network operations teams spend reconstructing unified communications (UC) issues by half through the automation of call filtering, mining, and reconstruction. Additional features have been included to help IT teams gain an understanding of complex application and infrastructure relationships, and take immediate action to resolve performance problems.

"Customers have long relied on us to ensure the successful performance of critical communication services operating alongside all other application traffic," said Charles Thompson, director of product strategy for Network Instruments. "As innovators in the market, we have led with intuitive interfaces and workflows for assessing UC quality, continuously integrated support for emerging technologies, and offer granular UC session views critical for quick resolution. The VoIP and video extract functionality marks the first time a packet-monitoring solution has automated the call extraction process shaving hours off of troubleshooting time."
New Observer Performance Management Platform Features Include:
VoIP and Video Extract: Save hours of troubleshooting via automated call location and extraction Expanded UC Monitoring: Complete UC tracking with added support for T.38 (Fax over IP) Cross-Domain Performance Correlations: Assess relationships between multiple performance variables for problem resolution Enhanced Application Transaction Analysis: Transaction-level analysis for security protocols Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) and Diameter Subscriber Extract: Identify and extract subscriber details, activities, and call sessions traversing 4G LTE networks for any International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) Enhanced VoLTE Support: Comprehensive, in-depth monitoring of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) on carrier networks Network Packet Broker (NPB) Timestamp Support: Identify potential post-capture delay for cPacket Networks, Gigamon, Ixia Anue, and VSS Monitoring NPBs
"Time is of the essence for IT teams trying to get to the bottom of performance problems that impact business communications and services," said Jim Frey, managing research director of Enterprise Management Associates (EMA). "Within these complex environments, operations pros need to rapidly isolate relevant details and resolve the issue. The new UC and application management features in Observer serve as workflow accelerators, streamlining critical application troubleshooting processes, and reducing time to resolution."
Automated, Expanded UC Analysis: Simplified, Time-Saving TroubleshootingManaging VoIP and videoconferencing within enterprise environments can be a very complex and manual process when attempting to pinpoint the cause of degraded performance. VoIP and video extract in GigaStor simplify this process, saving hours in troubleshooting time while improving accuracy and ensuring all relevant call activity is identified and analyzed. Rather than manually filtering and reconstructing call elements, the engineer enters basic information such as the phone number, Caller ID, or name. The system automatically pieces together the communication and provides all relevant data for analysis.

Network Instruments continues to lead the way in expanding support for the variety of emerging UC and collaboration platforms and services. Observer now provides in-depth monitoring of Fax over IP (T.38).

Performance Correlations: Quick Assessment and ResolutionBeing able to correlate performance variables across the application, network, and infrastructure can help engineers quickly verify or rule out potential problem causes. Performance correlations combine metrics from the many performance data sources within the Observer Reporting Server onto a single graph, giving engineers a holistic view of performance and an at-a-glance assessment of variable relationships. Understanding these relationships can also be critical for fine-tuning performance and justifying future IT investments.

Expanded Application Transaction Analysis: Support for RADIUS and DiameterNetwork Instruments continues to enhance its support for detailed application analysis, and now provides transaction-level analysis for two important secure access protocols, RADIUS and Diameter.

Mobile Communications: Remove Guesswork from Subscriber-Experience ValidationAs mobile carriers implement 4G LTE, they require new monitoring solutions and understanding to monitor and resolve critical issues on their new IP-based infrastructure. Subscriber extract tracks, reconstructs, and presents all relevant details, subscriber identifier information, and associated conversations and activities for investigation to the carrier IT team.

NPB Timestamp Support: Pinpoint Potential Post-Capture DelayFor large enterprises using NPBs as a part of their monitoring infrastructure, GigaStor is the first retrospective analysis appliance leveraging NPB timestamps to assess time changes between when a packet enters and leaves the device. Timestamps from all leading NPB manufacturers, including cPacket Networks, Gigamon, Ixia Anue, and VSS Monitoring, are supported.

About Network InstrumentsEstablished in 1994, Network Instruments is an industry leader in application and network management. It provides products that optimize performance and speed problem resolution, helping ensure delivery of critical applications for businesses worldwide. Network Instruments delivers these benefits through a seamlessly integrated line of precision-engineered software and hardware systems for exact network monitoring and analysis. For more information, visit www.networkinstruments.com.